Vee

This is another classical influence on the show that seems very, very old school. (That's not a complaint) Just like a month or two ago where they had Anita receiving virtually every one of her children or grandchildren in turn in an episode where they all came by the house to talk about their lives and situations, these ritualistic scenes with Mona, Laura, Jan, etc. talking about the state of the canvas and storylines. It feels right out of the Irna Phillips playbook or maybe Bill Bell or Agnes. I may not care for Jan but this old staple sits well alongside the hyper-modern elements of the show re: candid talk about sex.

I want those cakes at OG's bad.

Same. LW has never not come to work. I would drop her for Sarah Brown returning as Carly in a hot second if it was up to me, but she has always done quite well in the role. The show fails her, she's never failed it. And with two specific exceptions she's had romantic chemistry with virtually everyone they've put her with.

That and the character in that mode did not work. I'm far more entertained by this as is, it would seem, the majority of the audience. YMMV.

Not as long as this writing team rides herd. I don't think you have to make Drew and Jake super close again. Drew's actions do not support that. But Jake had a tentative at best relationship with Jason last year (rumors fly that Mulcahey had wanted to play a Jake/Danny rivalry re: their differing opinions of their father a la Jason/A.J. in the '90s last year, and there were hints of that which made it onscreen when they fought), and I can see Jake still being the chink in Drew's dark armor where he lets some humanity out, shaming him a bit and still caring for him, reflecting on how close they used to be. Jake (who was brainwashed by Helena after years on Cassadine Island per that whole Chimera mess, and could well still have more scars there) could also relate to Drew's massive mental trauma. It wouldn't change who Drew is, but you can add layers and some dimension. You even have the flashbacks, at least on Hudson West's end, where Jake absolutely disintegrated when he learned Drew was not his father.

You do it using the relationship with Jake, who he was always very close to as a father in the Billy Miller years (and in the rare times they've acknowledged each other's existence since the recast, Jake was beside himself when Drew got attacked in prison). And by going through the relationships that used to be indispensable to Drew and are now combative. I've said before how bizarre it is for him to needle and terrorize Danny when he loved the boy as his son for several years. I buy Drew turning dark so hard, but they need to dig into the why - re: Jason, his traumatic history, the loss of all of Drew's former life and identity, the loss of Sam and the life he had before Jason returned, the loss of Kim Nero and his first child, etc. I've said before I think the younger Willow is in a certain way a kind of subconscious replacement for his long-lost youthful sweetheart in Kim. You can explore all that and still keep Drew a villain.

Nora and Viki were my favorites as a kid on OLTL, along with Marty who was younger and closer to what I was going through. At GH it was Bobbie in and of herself, then Luke, Laura and Lucky followed by Robin. At AMC it was Dimitri and Erica, Edmund and Maria. DOOL, Bo and Billie, then Carrie. It's always been about that mix when young people watch.

Yes, it was confirmed here 2 weeks ago too. What I spoilered is the probability that that is Nicole's next pairing.

Stefan had his issues later in his run but SN always sold presence and menace. I'd still be happy to have him resurrected. I've always missed him. I do think Cameron plays villainous Drew to the hilt and is clearly relishing it. I think he works very hard and plays that smarm so well. It's not his fault the writers give him very little nuance. I do think you could add more layers (his relationship with Jake, etc.) without softening him too much. He's gone too far past Mulcahey's grayer conception of him in the (IMO) GL Ross Marler mold so you might as well leave him as the villain, but I would give him more shades and POV.

I suspect Nicole is in flux while they wait on If @Errol isn't speculating on his end (which he could be, I might have misunderstood) he all but tipped that several posts back.

The triangle sucked with her in it, so I say move on. This is a much more interesting story. They have Andre/Dani/Bill anyway.

I think VR as Anita would unavoidably be a very, very different character. I can't necessarily see it in her current form. I do think she should join the show.

I don't think the ratings mess last year was about Sonny. I think the entire show seemed jammed up and at cross purposes BTS for months and it showed everyday, even when good stuff or dialogue made it to air. The Sonny/Carly Facebook fans freaking out was just a small part of the reaction. I do think it's an unfortunate coincidence that Maurice apparently had another minor IRL meltdown over the alleged emotional or psychological pressures of the meds story, and that was another thing that made them reset in addition to just throwing out a lot of what Mulcahey was doing - it was easy for them to look at it all as a whole and then say 'turning on Sonny was bad for the show.' But I don't go to a place that says Mo intentionally leverages his illness to get preferable story, I don't believe he's really capable of that if he ever was. Nonetheless, I do think that confluence of events has sometimes happened in and of itself. I don't think Anna or Finola are defined by the "Vanna" fanbase, but I do think it's the only semi-popular pairing she's had since Ian Buchanan (whose return was messy and not his fault) and I think she likes working with JPS, who Frank clearly adores. I just think they've got to move her on because he's so lame.

Which is why I've said Frank is likely bulletproof, for better or worse.

And I knew Frank would do it too, if it came down to him or them. That's how he rolls. But Jamey and the DC gang were so shocked and enraged. I'll never forget their 'emergency podcast' where Jamey shrieked and howled at the top of his lungs, quoting liberally from the infamous Gloria Monty profile in either '91 or '92 about the embattled show and repeating over and over 'the actors are revolting (against Ron/Monty)!' It didn't seem to register at all for Jamey that the article painted Monty in a very bad light and as a paranoid control freak during one of the major low points in GH history. He simply seemed to see it as history repeating, with ungrateful actors turning on a visionary creative. Jamey seems to have matured somewhat since then as he's built an actual career off those connections and I'm genuinely glad for him if so. But I have a long memory.

I think BTG has a lot of issues with the day to day dialogue vs. something like GH. BTG often sounds very much like the purely expository artificial flavor of B&B; sort of an offshoot of the classic Bell style or even Irna Phillips, but that can be very creaky today. It fluctuates wildly between dialogue being hyper-modern (and sometimes tryhard or lapsing into therapyspeak) and super classical like the above, which while messy is an interesting mix historically in and of itself. That being said I do think the dialogue and dynamics have leveled up a lot over the last several weeks, and I think the stories certainly have overall. For example, Hayley is not going to last forever. She's a villain scheming to kill Bill and take his money. That's an old soap staple and we know where it ends. It's a good story but it has an expiration date. If I had to bet, Leslie is the classical long-running soap villain/antagonist we know and Hayley is the more lethal one who we didn't see coming. Sooner or later Hayley's going to get carted off, maybe for good, maybe to return for stints. Hanging the show off her is not gonna happen, nor does it need to. They have plenty going for them as is with Eva/Kat, Nicole, Andre/Dani/Bill, etc. They just need to hone the show mercilessly and make cuts to the cast and get much more consistent with the dialogue. Like any new soap.

I don't believe the ratings dipped in the early '10s because there wasn't enough Sonny and Carly. They were woven into plenty of story. I think RC's stories in 2013 and '14 got very messy and some were very unpopular, and that perhaps Benard and the network capitalized on this to push for an adjustment. Later, many actors at the show complained to the network about RC's stories (and were branded as traitors by the hysterical Jamey Giddens and Daytime Confidential) across the board, and I think those actors' complaints were largely valid. This was in '14 and '15, around the time of Ava posing as "Denise," etc. And it did lead to Ron's firing, which he's still angry about lol.

That's a lot of soap operas any day of the week tbh. But Tomas needs to go yesterday, along with Ashley and Derek.

I think compared to B&B or most of the last 25 years of DAYS (and no, we're not gauging it just by the last 13 weeks) this show looks like a MENSA convention.

Not surprising. That kid had a major role in Weapons and was impressive.

A public service.

I just hope, per the December holiday spoilers in Parade Magazine

I just think there is good drama to be played in Jacob's ne'er-do-well brother laying down with his wife, and maybe Jacob finally having that fling with Kat. And I say that as someone who finds both Jacob and Naomi pretty boring by themselves. But I do find Kat, Eva and potentially Izaiah all much more interesting, so I would have Izaiah end up in that sphere down the road no matter what happens with the Hawthornes.

I liked some of those Shemar replacements! Whatshisface, Angel Conwell's onscreen brother was good. And ol' Keith Hamilton Cobb. Wasn't that dude a samurai chemist?

He's so fine and at a (very brief) glance can probably act. I do hope he is played with both sisters, but I still suspect this may be a feint for him ending up seducing Naomi given the current circumstances. I don't care much for Naomi but there is dramatic potential there, though I'd def like to see him end up with Eva or Kat.